"Sorrel," Cloud whispered, as he followed her up the seemingly endless staircase, "what if these steps go on forever and people start to forget about us?"

"I don't think anyone could forget you, Cloud," she replied, grinning. "You're sweet Little Cloud who everyone loves!"

Cloud frowned. "I hate it when you call me that," he muttered.

Behind them both Gaeshi suddenly said, "We must be high up, my ears have just popped."

"Do dragons have ears?" Cloud asked.

Sorrel laughed. "He's a Sarkany, you can see his ears on the side of his head!"

Cloud prodded her in the ribs playfully. "I know that. I meant dragons."

"Dragons have ears," Gaeshi said, smiling behind them both. "Trust me, Cloud, I heard you screaming when we were flying over Silence Gorge."

Sorrel and Gaeshi laughed and Cloud grinned ruefully. The staircase came to an end and they found themselves in another corridor with a door at the end.

"Well," she said, her fingertips reaching towards the brass knob. "He must be in here."

Cloud gazed at the closed door, a nervous expression on his face, and then at Sorrel. "After you."

#

Sorrel stepped into the Lamya leader's lavish bedchamber and her hand instantly shot to her sword. Corrinus was sitting on his bed and he stood up from sharpening one of his blades to greet them. Cloud and Gaeshi entered the room and stood protectively on either side of her. Corrinus smiled and opened his arms to welcome them.

Sorrel narrowed her eyes and said nothing. She took a quick glance around the room - it was large enough for a fight but there was no way to escape but for the door she had just come through. Behind Corrinus was a big four–poster bed draped with the same rich purple material that the leader himself was robed with and nearby was a small round table with a drinking chalice and burnt out candle on it.

Corrinus smiled and looked around his room. "Do you like it?" he asked.

She gave a grim nod. "At least you won't be able to flee from here as easily as you did downstairs."

Corrinus laughed. "I did not flee, girl! I left to see if you were worthy enough to fight me. You have defeated my dragons, you are stronger than I thought, yes?"

"You wanted to see if I was worthy enough?" she repeated in disbelief.

Corrinus folded his arms into his wide sleeves and looked down his nose at her. "There has never been anyone to challenge me in a fight before. I did not want to waste my time with you if my dragons could kill you easily. Now I see you are an opponent worthy of me." He withdrew his arms, holding a thin sword each the length of his forearm in each hand. He gave Sorrel an evil smile. "I will relish your death. There will be nobody to take the Kingdom from me then. I will become its King! Ha, ha! Yes! A King greater than any Elani! And why should I stop at Malinas when the rest of Aldenland will be ready for me to take? I'll show them all what a lowly street urchin is capable of! Yessss..."

Corrinus ran forward to meet Sorrel in the middle of the room.

She swung her sword and clashed blades with the leader of the Lamya while behind her Cloud and Gaeshi stayed close to guard the door.

She had never fought an opponent with two swords before but she quickly picked up the Lamya's style and with quick clean sweeps with her own sword kept him at bay and on his toes. She stayed focused and knew exactly where she was in comparison with her surroundings as she moved around the room. Her blade met his again and she pushed him back. She was finding it increasingly difficult to see in the darkened room and her eyes were beginning to ache with the strain.

"Why's it so dark in here?" she cried out in annoyance as Corrinus caught her off balance and she jumped backwards to recover from her mistake.

Corrinus, breathing heavily, chuckled and nodded to the one window in the room. "It's night time, girl," he said. "Probably way past your bedtime, yes?"

The comment did not have the effect on Sorrel Corrinus had perhaps hoped for. Instead, she smiled and nodded at him. "I think you have a fear of the light."

Corrinus was holding one hand up to his face to shield his eyes from the small lantern that burned nearby and now he lowered it and lashed out with his sword, smashing the lantern and plunging the room into near pitch darkness.

By the door, Cloud leaned close to Gaeshi and whispered in his ear. "Good job it's a full moon out!"

Sorrel used the sound to pinpoint where her friends were and she knew she'd struggle now. She could only make out a faint shadowy outline of Corrinus, the fact that a dark robe covered him from head to foot didn't help, and all she could see of his weapons were brief flashes of metal as they caught the moonlight. Her sword suddenly felt far too heavy for her and her arms and hands ached. She struck out at where she hoped Corrinus stood, but her blade sliced through air.

She gasped as a sharp pain nicked her side and reaching down she could feel the wet of blood on her hand. An elbow struck her hard across the face, sending her stumbling to the floor. Pain exploded through her body as Corrinus kicked her hard in the stomach and she tasted blood in her mouth. Quickly, she struggled to her feet and looked for her enemy. Corrinus was no longer in front of her and the room seemed dangerously quiet.

You are not invincible.

Her panicked breathing sounded loud in her ears as she spun around desperately seeking for her enemy, her face throbbed and she felt sick. She wanted to collapse to her knees and sleep.

"Sorrel, behind you!"

Gaeshi's warning came too slow as Corrinus leapt down from the bed and grabbed her around the neck. She struggled, reaching both hands up to her neck to try to pull the Lamya's evil grip loose. In her ear, she could hear him triumphant as he laughed quietly.

"Sorrel!"

Both Gaeshi and Cloud called to her and she heard them move forwards to help her but Corrinus changed his grip and reached for one of his smaller daggers hidden beneath his robe, threatening to kill her there and then if they came any closer.

"Fight fair, you coward!" Gaeshi cried, the only other there who could see clearly.

Corrinus ignored the Sarkany and whispered harshly in Sorrel's ear. "I'll add your name to my list of defeats, Elani, and whisper my own so it will be the last you hear before you die." He leaned close, his hot breath on her face as he hissed his full name. "Yukio Corrinus!"

Her heart froze. She screamed, and for a brief moment both Gaeshi and Cloud thought she had been struck – she heard them gasp – then she turned powerfully and wrested herself away from the vile Lamya leader. She grabbed her fallen weapon and stood opposite Corrinus, her eyes wild and her heart beating fast in her chest.

"Sorrel?"

"Yukio Corrinus, Cloud! That's what he said his name was! Yukio."

Little Cloud gasped. Yukio was the name of the man who led the hunting party of Lamya that had killed her father seven years ago. Yukio was the only name she heard the Lamya mention that day as her father ordered her and Leif to run. Yukio was a name she had waited to hear again ever since.

"You killed him," she said, her voice trembling as she pointed her sword at Corrinus. "You!"

Corrinus tossed the blade he had threatened Sorrel with from hand to hand, steel catching the light, and he answered her in a calm voice. "I have killed many people, girl, so you must forgive me for saying that I have no idea who you're talking about."

"My father!" she cried, stepping forward. "Cal the Warrior. Seven years ago you lead a hunting party into the Vale and decided to pick on a father taking his two children down to play by the river! He died protecting us from you!"

Corrinus smirked. "Oh yes," he whispered. "I remember. Well, how far we have both come. How you've grown!"

Sorrel struggled to control her temper as she clenched her teeth and asked Corrinus a question. "You have my mother here. Where is she?"

Corrinus laughed in genuine delight. "My healer? Yes, I can see the resemblance now! Oh this is turning out to be a family affair isn't it?"

Sorrel lost it completely and she rushed Corrinus. The Lamya leader stepped to one side and she tripped and stumbled in the dark.

She reached out for her sword but Corrinus stepped forward and placed his foot heavily on her wrist.

She sobbed as he pressed more firmly and he gave a mocking tut. "Poor Elani, in trouble again!"

Cloud moved to go to her aid but Gaeshi held him back. "Let me," he said. Then, with a yell, he ran at Corrinus ready to fight for her.

Corrinus smiled and shot out his hand, grabbing the Sarkany by his throat and lifting him straight off his feet. He laughed and looked back at Cloud by the door. "I suggest you run, boy, unless you want to have a go too, yes?"

Little Cloud tried to pull his sword from his belt, but it snagged at the hand guard and he was unable to pull it loose however much he tugged.

Corrinus smiled down again at Sorrel. From where she lay, she looked at Gaeshi and said firmly, "Turn, Gaeshi."

Gaeshi strained his eyes to look down at her and he frowned in puzzlement. "But you—"

"Turn!" she ordered again, her voice hard. Her wrist was being ground into the stone floor; the bones crunched. She gritted her teeth. "Turn, now!"

"But, Sorrel!" Cloud cried, still tugging at his sword. "It's too small in here, we'll all be crushed!"

Corrinus looked from Sorrel to Cloud. "I wish you'd all shut up and let me kill you," he spat.

"Turn, Gaeshi, now!" she yelled again. "That's an order!"

Gaeshi gulped, then, still firmly in the grasp of the Lamya leader, he threw back his head and started the process that would turn him into the dragon.

A bright white light shot from Gaeshi's body and Corrinus screamed in pain and covered his eyes, dropping the Sarkany to the floor. As Gaeshi landed, the process interrupted, Sorrel saw her chance and, reaching finally for her sword, she turned and thrust it upward into Corrinus's chest with a triumphant yell.

Corrinus choked and turned to look at her in shock, he fell heavily to his knees then and tried in vain to pull the sword from his chest. She watched him with no regret, her eyes hard and her mouth smiling in satisfaction. She could not find it in herself to pity him.

Corrinus fell at her feet and she knelt down and whispered a name in his ear as he died. "Sorrel," she said, trembling all over. "Daughter of Cal and Helena."